England listed as African nation in official Commonwealth Games guide

Commonwealth Games organizers have confused England with the African Republic of The Gambia in the event’s official program, which contains information about the 71 nations participating.

Banjul, with a population of 2 million, was indicated as England’s capital in the 130-page pamphlet for the Games, which is available at the price of AU$10 (US$7,60).

The program also says that England joined the Commonwealth Games in 1970, when in fact it participated in the first edition of the event in 1930.

The Gambia, which is in West Africa, next to Senegal, re-joined the Commonwealth in February after withdrawing from the organization in 2013.

The country’s decision to reinstate its membership was announced just weeks before the Commonwealth Games, forcing the publishers to urgently make amendments to the official program, which supposedly led to the formatting error.

The Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) apologized for the mistake, but said it’s too late to reprint the guide with the Games opening ceremony taking place on Wednesday.

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“GOLDOC is aware of a formatting error in the England team overview section of the official GC2018 Program,” a GOLDOC spokesman told the Daily Mail Australia. “The formatting error occurred when The Gambia was reinstated back in to the Commonwealth and subsequently the Games only a few weeks ago.”

“GOLDOC was determined to include The Gambia in the official program and with the late addition and update to the Program, the page required re-formatting at the last minute at the printers, causing the error,” he added. “We're delighted The Gambia has joined the Games and apologise for the re-formatting error in the Program.”

The 2018 Commonwealth Games will run from April 4 to 15 on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.